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Subhiksha under EPFO scanner, top management quitsThere seems to be no end to discount retailer Subhiksha\'s woes. With the cash crunch pushing the company to the verge of collapse, the top management is now abandoning the ship. CNBCTV18s Priyal Guliani finds out more.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 5:01 pm Elite office hub Ceejay House battles falling rentalsThe downturn in the real estate sector is now catching up in one of the most expensive front office destinations in Mumbai Ceejay House, where tenants like Barclays and Nomura are renegotiating leases, and opting for rents that are 50% lower than last year.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 4:53 pm Monnet Ispat sees 30% rev growth in FY09, FY10Sandeep Jajodia, Monnet Ispat, said the company has Rs 450 crore cash on its balance sheet. He said the company will mine 1.5 metric tonne next year from Indian mines for captive use. We expect 30% revenue growth in FY09 and FY10, and bottomline growth could be higher by may be 40% or so.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 4:46 pm Prefer selling Satyam only as a whole: Kiran KarnikKiran Karnik, Chairman of the Satyam board, also a former NASSCOM chairman, said he would prefer selling Satyam as a whole rather than in parts.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 4:45 pm FDA nod for generic drug no great cheer for RanbaxyRanbaxy has got the US FDAs approval for the generic Imitrex but only for one drug strength of 100 mg. Ranbaxy had exclusivity and was to launch it in Q4CY08 but had been. But Ranbaxy\'s loss was Dr Reddy\'s gain. Dr Reddys had already launched the generic Imitrex in December, 2008 as it already had an authorised generic status.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 4:01 pm FY09 capex spending at Rs 400425cr: Simplex InfraAmitabh Das Mundhra, Director, Simplex Infrastructures, said the company\'s capex plan for FY10 is quite minimal. Maximum capex has been done this year and last year. This years overall capex spending would be between Rs 400 crore to Rs 425 crore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 3:50 pm Dish TV sees Q4 FY09 EBIDTA at parJawahar Goel of Dish TV said in February and March, the companys EBIDTA levels should be at par. We have changed some practices in consumer behavior, and passed our service tax down to the consumers. That has given us a good learning and the prospect is that this month only we will be nearly at par our EBIDTA levels.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 2:21 pm Zoom Entertainment expects Rs100 cr revenue by JulyNew Delhi: Zoom Entertainment expects to clock a revenue of Rs90-100 crore by July this year, despite the economic slowdown, which has led to trimming of advertising budgets globally, the Bennett Coleman’s entertainment channel said on Wednesday. “Though the ad revenues have been hit, it is still growing. We expect to see revenues of Rs90-100 crore in the current fiscal (August-July),” Zoom Entertainment Network head marketing Kunal Mukherjee told PTI. This is against Rs60-70 crore revenue registered last fiscal, he said adding that the company’s fiscal year is from August to July. Zoom plans to launch 1-2 new shows each month as it continues to remain bullish on the Indian market. “We are more precautionary than jumping to conclusions that the industry has been hit. We are seeing growth though lower as compared to last year but there is growth,” he said. “We have launched 5-6 shows in this fiscal and plan to launch 1-2 shows every month,” he added. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 2:11 pm Satyam says client confidence improving - Reuters
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 2:09 pm Govt. allows facsimile editions of foreign newspapers - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 2:04 pm Three public sector banks to get Rs. 3800 cr. capital infusion - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 2:00 pm Perot Systems sees more work moving offshoreMUMBAI (Reuters) - U.S. computer services company Perot Systems Inc will shift more work to offshore centres such as India as clients try to cut costs amid the global downturn, a senior official said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:58 pm ANALYSIS - Roche loses lustre on Genentech, growth worriesZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss drugmaker Roche, long considered a bullet-proof investment, could be coming back down to earth due to a combination of slowing growth and worries over its multibillion dollar bid to buy out Genentech.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:56 pm Pakistan’s problem: not only terrorists, but the wayward ISIPakistan has a terrorist problem, as many of the country’s leaders acknowledge. But it also has an ISI problem—the nation’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency pursues its own agenda for its own reasons. And civilian leaders there have been too hesitant to challenge it.  Growing trouble: A file photo of Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (left) with ISI director general Lt Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha. AFP The ISI operates under its own definition of Pakistan’s national interest—and has shown a particular obsession with India. It has a history of incubating extremists, such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), gang India claims was behind Mumbai attacks. It would be best for Pakistan’s relations with its neighbours and for its own internal stability if ISI gets out of the business of using fanaticized jihadis—whether LeT or the Taliban—to advance the military’s strategic aims. Pakistani officials have dropped hints that their own investigation will show that the Mumbai plot was hatched in Bangladesh and had Indian co-conspirators. But India has given Pakistan and the US considerable material evidence, including intercepted phone calls and forensic DNA matching the terrorists on a boat that left from Pakistan. So any Pakistani campaign to deflect or diffuse blame is likely to make Pakistani authorities look even more irresponsible than they do now. Over the years, ISI has received plenty of outside help. In the 1980s, CIA cooperated with ISI and Saudi intelligence in funding, training, and arming Afghan and foreign guerrillas to fight the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. This proxy war was initiated by former US president Jimmy Carter and expanded under Ronald Reagan. It succeeded in driving the Red Army out of Afghanistan. But it also drew in violent Islamists from many countries who coalesced in terrorist networks, the most notorious of which became Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. In the mid-1990s, ISI sponsored Taliban. The aim was to have an allied force in control of Afghanistan, to prevent India from extending its influence there, and to provide ISI with training camps outside Pakistan for groups conducting operations in India-ruled Kashmir. Today, some of those terrorist groups are turning their fury against the established order in Pakistan. Apart from India’s public attempts to hold ISI guilty for the Mumbai crimes, Pakistan needs to recognize its own interest in remoulding and redirecting the agency, so it can extinguish a terrorist fire that may otherwise consume Pakistan itself. © 2009/The Boston Globe feedback@livemint.com Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:53 pm Leaked report to TV networks points to larger Pakistani roleIslamabad: At least five of the 10 gunmen who attacked targets in Mumbai nearly three months ago were of Pakistani origin, according to a government report that has been leaked to the local television (TV) networks.  Stalling act? A 29 Nov picture of the Taj hotel. Pakistan was due to make public the preliminary findings of the investigation into the terrorist attack in Mumbai. But on Monday it issued a statement saying investigators needed more evidence from India to proceed with the investigation. Desmond Boylan / Reuters But officials here have rejected India’s assertions that the assault was conceived and planned inside Pakistan. According to the television networks, the government report says that the investigators have concluded that the attacks were planned in a European country and Dubai over the Internet, and that the planners used Bangladesh for logistical support. It was unclear from the leaks how the investigators had come to their conclusions. The preliminary findings of the investigation had been expected to be made public this week. But on Monday the government issued a statement saying investigators needed more evidence from India to proceed with the investigation. The request for more information provoked an angry reaction on Tuesday from India, which said it had already shared exhaustive evidence of Pakistani complicity. Minister of state for external affairs Anand Sharma called the Pakistani request a stalling tactic. “What is required of Pakistan is that it should not delay, deflect or confuse, but act,” Sharma said, according to AFP. The Pakistani government did not specify what additional information investigators wanted from India. But Dawn, Pakistan's most prestigious newspaper, reported on Tuesday that Pakistani officials would seek a DNA report on Kasab and the other nine, who were killed by the Indian security forces. Pakistan is also seeking information about the weapons used by the gunmen as well as details of the cell phone calls made by them, Dawn said. In addition, Pakistan will push for access to the Indians who have been arrested in connection with the attacks, the newspaper report said. Tension between the countries has intensified since the November attacks in Mumbai, which killed at least 183 people. Indian and the US officials have accused Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), an outlawed militant group that has vowed to free the disputed Kashmir region from Indian control, of being responsible for the attacks. Pakistan has promised to cooperate fully in the investigation of the attacks. Under immense international diplomatic pressure, Pakistan put Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, the leader of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the charity affiliated with the LeT, under house arrest and detained at least 124 people in a nationwide crackdown. Offices and schools associated with the charity have been closed. © 2009/The New York Times feedback@livemint.com Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:52 pm Rupee edges up as stocks recoverMumbai: Owing to flat markets and low dollar demand by importers, the rupee clawed back earlier losses and rose marginally on Wednesday. The partially convertible rupee closed at Rs48.69/70 per dollar compared with Tuesday’s close of Rs48.72/73. “Absolutely there is no (dollar) demand. In a slowing economy, naturally non-oil imports and oil imports are slowing,” a treasurer with a private sector company said. Indian economy is falling and the government estimates its expansion of 7.1% in fiscal 2008-09, compared with last year’s 9.0% growth. Analysts expect the pace of growth slow to near 6 percent in the next fiscal year. Earlier, the rupee had fallen to an intraday low of Rs48.90, pulled down by the dollar’s strength against major currencies, while early weakness in domestic stock markets also soured sentiment. But the local currency pulled back as stocks trimmed losses of nearly 2% to end marginally lower, and as a US bank sold dollars on behalf of a large construction company, dealers said. Foreigners have bought about $185 million worth of shares in the last four trading sessions, but are still net sellers of about $1 billion in 2009. They had dumped shares worth more than $13 billion in 2008, pushing the rupee down 19.1%. The dollar index, a gauge of US unit’s performance against major units overseas, was up 0.1%. Dealers said they would watch Thursday’s inflation data for cues on the outlook for interest rates. The Reserve Bank of India has aggressively slashed its rates since mid-October. The repo rate, at which it lends to commercial banks, has been cut by 350 basis points to 5.5%. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:50 pm Govt allows facsimile editions of WSJ, WSJ AsiaNew Delhi: The ministry of information and broadcasting on Wednesday gave the approval for the publication of facsimilie edition of The Wall Street Journal and The Wall Street Journal Asia, in India. The two newspapers will be published by Wall Street Journal India Publishing Pvt Ltd, a fully-owned subsidiary of the US-based Dow Jones and Company Inc. The company recently got the permision for a foreign direct investment of Rs2.16 crore to launch the facsimilie editions. This is the first time a foreign news and current affairs publisher has been allowed to launch a facsimilie edition on its own. The government, in January this year, had allowed up to 100% FDI in the facsimilie editions of international newspapers provided the foreign investment in the Indian subsidiary, which would launch the edition, was made by the owner of the original foreign newspaper. Wall Street Journal has an exclusive content tie up with Mint, which is published by HT Media Ltd. At the time of the filing its application for the facsimilie edition, Bill Casey, vice-president, international, WSJhad said the proposal “has absolutely no effect on our content partnership with Mint”. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:47 pm Icai mulls moving court to quiz Satyam promotersMumbai: Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (Icai) on Wednesday said it contemplates moving court for permission to interrogate the promoters and former chief financial officer of the fraud-hit Satyam Computer. “Icai is contemplating moving court for permission to interrogate Satyam Computer former chairman B. Ramalinga Raju and its former CFO Srinivas Vadlamani,” said Icai’s newly- appointed president Uttam Kumar Agarwal. Currently, Icai, the nodal body regulating accounting standards in the country, is not empowered to call any person for interrogation. But with a view to the Satyam-fraud, the body is considering seeking the court’s approval on the issue, Agarwal said. A high-powered committee was set up by Icai headed by its president in the wake of the Satyam fraud. The committee, which submitted its interim report today, would take at least two-three months to file the final report, Agarwal said. The committee has been mandated to look into the entire gamut of the scam including coordination with various investigative agencies to reach the roots of the malaise, effectiveness of corporate governance systems in place and other related issues. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:40 pm Wheat output will match last year's outputWheat output this fiscal would match last year's level of 78.4 million tonnes following recent rains in northern India, a top official said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:32 pm India bracing to prevent another terror strike: AntonyIndia is making all-out efforts to prevent another Mumbai-style terror attack by adequately equipping its security forces and beefing up the intelligence network, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:31 pm Defence minister hails indigenous combat jetThe star attraction at the inauguration of the Aero India international air show here Wednesday was a breathtaking series of aerial manoeuvres by the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA).Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:31 pm Markets slip marginally on weak global cuesIndian equities markets closed marginally lower Wednesday on weak global cues, with a key index shedding 0.3 percent over its previous close.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:30 pm India allows Wall Street Journal to publish facsimile editionThe government Wednesday gave approval to two foreign newspapers, the Wall Street Journal and the Wall Street Journal Asia, to publish their facsimile editions from India.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:30 pm Unitech Wireless partner secures tower lease dealNEW DELHI (Reuters) - Unitech Wireless, in which Norway's Telenor is buying a 60 percent stake, said on Wednesday it had signed agreements with Indian firms Wireless-TT Infoservices and Quippo Telecom to lease telecoms towers.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:27 pm Satyam says client confidence improvingMUMBAI (Reuters) - Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd is reassuring wary clients about its long-term prospects and will be able to pay staff their February wages, its new chairman said on Wednesday.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:24 pm Three public sector banks to get Rs 3,800 cr capital infusionThree public sector banks will get Rs 3,800 crore from the Centre in this fiscal and 2009-10 to help them have more than adequate capital.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:07 pm Indian rupee edges higher as stocks recover - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 1:06 pm Bond yields dip as auction worries easeMumbai: Bond yields dropped on Wednesday as sentiments eased over additional debt supplies after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced it would start buying government bonds at auctions. The yield on the 8.24% 2018 federal bond ended at 6.30%, off an early low of 6.25% but still below Tuesday’s close of 6.49%. “The scene has shifted from macroeconomic fundamentals to technicals like demand and supply,” said K. Ramkumar, head of fixed income at Sundaram BNP Paribas Mutual Fund. “Every auction is likely to push yields higher as the supply is quantified while the demand is not,” he said. Last week, the Yield on 2018 bond hit an eight-week high of 6.53%. After falling to an all-time low of 4.86% in early January, it has spiked 144 basis points (bps) on extra borrowing concerns. The RBI said on Tuesday it would borrow a bigger-than-expected Rs460 billion between 20 February and 20 March, spooking markets and sending yields higher. The figures were sharply above market expectations of Rs300-400 billion of extra borrowing, and would bring the government’s borrowing in 2008-09 to Rs2.6 trillion - twice its initial budget estimate. But the apex bank said it would buy government bonds from investors via auctions starting from 19 February. Volumes were a high Rs62.05 billion ($1.3 billion) on the RBI’s trading platform with the 2018 bond being most traded. Ramkumar said the central bank (RBI) needed to provide details of which securities it would buy, the amount and the level at which they will be bought. Dealers said the market was keenly eyeing an Rs80 billion bond sale on Friday, which could provide cues on investors’ appetite for the upcoming flow of debt. Inflation and industrial data, due on Thursday, are also awaited. Lower-than-expected inflation and dismal industrial numbers may fuel appetite for debt in anticipation of further interest rate cuts, dealers said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:56 pm SpiceJet, others raise fares; govt says keeping watchMUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Low-cost carrier SpiceJet raised fares, with unsustainably low tariffs failing to spur demand as expected, and in line with hikes by peers, and the government on Wednesday said it was keeping watch to prevent cartelisation.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:55 pm Jet, JetLite introduces basic fares at Rs 300 and Re 1Jet Airways and its low-cost subsidiary JetLite have introduced Rs 300 and Re 1 as basic fares respectively under 30-day advance purchase scheme.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:55 pm Board making all efforts to stabilise Satyam: Tarun DasThe government-appointed board of Satyam Computer Services is making all efforts to stabilise the company and limit the impact of the accounting fraud.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:54 pm Treasury's sketchy rescue plan sends stocks tumbling - The Miami Herald
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:49 pm Turmoil in AP Assembly, two TDP MLAs hurt - Hindu
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm Satyam to pay Feb salaries; bank loans coming: KarnikMumbai: Fraud-hit Satyam Computer Services Ltd will be able to pay employee salaries for February and will get bank loans in the next few days, its chairman said on Wednesday. Kiran Karnik also told media there was greater comfort and stability among Satyam’s clients after their initial reactions to the revelations of fraud at the outsourcing firm. “Obviously there are questions about the long-term future of the company and we are interacting with them on this,” Karnik said. He said Satyam had been approached by many suitors, but a formal process was yet to begin. “We have not formally invited any kind of application from any suitor,” he said. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:39 pm Senate, Fed, Treasury attack crisis with $3 tn!On a single day, the Obama administration, Federal Reserve and Senate attacked the deepening economic crisis Tuesday with as much as USD 3 trillion.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Satyam getting new contracts: Murty!Even as a few customers have left in the wake of the financial fraud, Satyam said it is continuously getting new software services orders.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Biz execs expect upturn by year-end!Amid ongoing global downturn, biz execs view economies as bad but don`t see them getting much worse and some of them expect an upturn to begin by year-end.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm RBS to axe up to 2,300 jobs!RBS will axe up to 2,300 jobs to recover from the credit crunch and takeover of ABN Amro.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Govt to borrow Rs 46,000 cr; not to disrupt market: RBI!Seeking to raise additional resources to fund public expenditure to stimulate economy, the government in consultation with the RBI on Tuesday decided to borrow Rs 46,000 crore in four tranches in the next one-and-half month.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm GM to cut 10,000 jobs !General Motors Corp is planning to slash another 10,000 salaried jobs this year, saying the cuts are unavoidable with a government restructuring deadline looming and industry-wide sales in one of the worst downturns in history.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Oil prices rebound in Asian trade to USD 37.95 after data shows decrease in stocks!Oil prices rebounded in Asian trade on Wednesday after data showed a decrease in US oil stocks.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Sensex tanks 188 pts on heavy selling!Sensex fell by over 187 pts in early trade on Wednesday, snapping its rising streak.Source: Zee News : Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:38 pm Govt sees modest revival, ready to take more stepsNEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Goverment is ready to take more steps if needed to reverse a slowdown in key sectors, Industry Secretary Ajay Shankar said on Wednesday, ahead of the interim budget to be presented next week.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:35 pm Indian call rates little changed on ample cash - Reuters India
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:27 pm Sex educationAh, Valentine’s Day and the awful pressure of finding the perfect romantic gift. This year, I had the added weight of having conveniently forgotten the birthday gift, so I had a lot of ground to make up. In a stab at creativity, I opted to give the gift that keeps on giving. I would educate myself on the fine art of romance through massage training, private Salsa lessons, a belly dancing school, cooking classes and a couple’s yoga course. Five classes in five days to inject a lifetime’s worth of spice, oil and chowmein into the love life. There’s the rub What could be more loving than coming home to your own private, personal masseuse each night? I set out for a one-day training course at the Keraleeya Ayurveda Panchakarma Centre at Sainik Farms, New Delhi, with visions of me as the kind, selfless lover embarking on an enlightened 4-hour path of learning the secret methods to calm my partner’s weary muscles. Unfortunately, it was far more like science class than a mystical peek into an ancient tradition. For 2 hours, I sat with a teacher and copied down which oils to use to combat psoriasis and which to use for memory loss. I learnt you should never get a massage if you have a fever, and that if I were ever to become pregnant, I better come in for a daily massage or my body would be ruined forever. I also found out I really needed more face massages, as my teacher happily informed me that I looked much older than she did and she was 10 years older than me, ha ha! Massage class was, thus far, not exactly fun. After the lesson on my wrinkles, I was ushered into a private room for some hands-on training. Five other women, all working for certificates, though in a month-long course, taught me the basic skills for a head, face and body massage. One woman stood in as the guinea pig, I oiled and rubbed, and the other four clucked over my skills or lack thereof. Then I was tossed on the table to experience what a skilled massage should actually feel like. Obviously, that was the highlight of the course. I lay there as four skilled hands adroitly pushed and prodded me, thinking of the weeks and months it would take me to become a truly skilled pressure-pointer. I quickly came to the conclusion that the next time the boyfriend starts looking a little too stiff around the edges, it would probably be a far wiser investment to just spring for a couple’s massage. Keraleeya Ayurveda Panchakarma Centre. A one-day course costs Rs4,500. For details, log on to www.kerala-ayurvedics.com The way of the belly  Meher Malik leads her belly Dancing class by example. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint Twenty minutes into my belly dancing class, a student rushed in with the news that the Delhi bomb squad was on its way to the building. A suspicious bag, that too two days before Republic Day, had the teeming Model Town market in north Delhi convinced we would soon be under attack. The class rushed to the glass windows. I cowered in the far opposite corner. The teacher, Meher Malik, quizzed the excited class if we should postpone belly dancing and run for safety. No one (except me) seemed ready to leave and one girl shouted she would be happy to die belly dancing. So, class was called back to order, and Arabic music once again filled the small studio. While I spent the next 20 minutes gripped in a private argument in my head (“You’re really risking death for a ridiculous assignment?” “How will you dying improve your romantic life?”), slowly the loud music and the intricate dance moves pushed the worries from my mind. An hour into the class, I was surprised to hear one of the girls shout, pointing towards the window, “We’re okay! The police just removed the bag!” Entranced in my dancing, I had forgotten all about the bomb threat. The class wound up being the only class this week where I wasn’t focusing on the boyfriend or on us as a couple. This slow, seductive dancing had nothing to do with him. It was all about me, my hips and the pounding music. And it was darn sexy. Malik says the dance “is such a feminine thing” and at a certain point, she says, she can actually see her students stop feeling insecure and start loving their bodies. Had Malik told me this before class, I would have likely scoffed at her. But after 2 hours of jutting my hips, rolling my shoulders and twisting my body, I was a convert. I felt gorgeous, feminine and ready for a glittery shawl. And if my mother is to be believed, the most attractive thing about a person is their self-confidence. So, while I’d like to skip the bombs next time, here’s to more belly shaking in my near future. New batches start every month and cost Rs1,500 for four classes. For details, log on to www.bellydancingindia.com  A student balances on Sanjeev Bhanot’s legs in the bow pose. Harikrishna Katragadda / Mint Synchronized breathing Conveniently, while I laboured away at classes in the name of love, my partner was out of town on a month-long business trip. While this probably worked to our advantage—I got to vet the classes without having to put up with his adorable habit of whining—I did face a bit of a conundrum when I signed up for couple’s yoga. I had to ask the boyfriend permission to borrow his best friend as an understudy. I think he was okay with it until he started picturing actual yoga positions. I dragged pseudo-boyfriend to the Yogalife studio in Shahpur Jat in south Delhi for a couple’s yoga workshop. As it turns out, couple’s yoga is, well, couple-y. To start, we hold hands, stare into each other’s eyes and synchronize our breathing: He breathes out, I breathe in. To make matters worse, our teacher Sanjeev Bhanot, all in the name of a good education, waxed philosophical about the utter importance of breathing in the practice of Tantra, in Kama Sutra, in life and in love. It’s turned out to be near impossible to synchronize breathing while staring into the eyes of the boyfriend’s best friend, especially when said best friend happens to have deep blue eyes. I couldn’t stop giggling like a 12-year-old. Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one. My partner was also unable to maintain sobriety. The teacher finally gave up and placed us back-to-back to breathe. It got a lot easier at that point. And, all blushing aside, the class wound up being fantastic. Having a partner stretching in the opposite direction pushed me to stretch deeper than I would on my own. And the teacher did get us into strange positions—none that would worry the real boyfriend—but silly ones that were far more like a couple of kids playing than a serious yoga class. We practised the ancient position of superman, where you lift your partner over your head with your feet. At another point, the teacher had me swinging upside down from his feet as if I were a ringing bell. The couples in the class don’t necessarily need to be romantic couples. Bhanot teaches the course to work colleagues, parents and children and friends. It’s more about trusting your partner, figuring out how to sync with another person and just having a good time. It succeeded on all fronts. Log on to www.yogalife.org for workshop timings. Individual classes cost Rs550 per person In the swing of things It’s no surprise Salsa took India by storm 10 years ago, with classes now a dime a dozen in most cities. The steps are a simple 1-2-3, the beat surprisingly similar to Bhangra and the moves about 20 times as sexy. Rather than joining a crowded class, I opted for a private lesson at home, courtesy Rahul Verma, founder of the dance studio Bollywood Naach and an instructor for 12 years. The boyfriend is (don’t tell him I said this) a much better dancer than I am, so I was very happy to get a jump on dancing lessons with him out of the picture. And the lesson gave me just that: Over a span of 2 hours, I went from a two-left-footer to a spinning, shaking, Salsa queen. We began with the basic step and then continued to add various moves, spins and dips. After each new lesson, we would practise the whole routine until it felt natural. We managed to get through eight full moves (Verma says there are about 35-40 standard moves in the dance). The constant drilling also meant I wasn’t just stumbling through them; by the end of it, I was actually managing to keep to the beat of the music without whacking Verma in the face. But, after 2 hours of sweaty dancing in the privacy of my home with a strange man, I started feeling that perhaps I should have opted for a large, crowded class. I think I’ll hold off on any more private lessons until the boyfriend comes back. But when he does, watch out. We’ll be contestants on Nach Baliye by next year for sure. The price is Rs1,000 for a 2-hour private lesson for two at your home. Contact Rahul Verma at www.bollywoodnaach.com The way to a man’s heart There is nothing quite as sexy as chocolate. Don’t argue. There just isn’t. So for my final lesson in love, it seemed a simple choice: a lesson on how to create sinful desserts. After debating the merits of various courses (do I opt for the Belgium chocolate-making class? Or the eggless dessert course?), it struck me: Men don’t like chocolate. They pretend to want dessert so we can share it guilt-free with them at the end of dinner. Since I had undertaken this whole affair to please the boyfriend, I realized I had to sacrifice my sweet tooth for his favourite food: dumplings. The simple Chinese snack that I can’t stand, he can’t get enough of. Luckily for him, I found a Chinese cooking course courtesy Manju Monga’s The Chef Culinaire school at Gujranwala Town in north Delhi. Monga offers lessons in almost every category: from south Indian snacks to mocktails. And with classes twice a day, all week long, it isn’t hard to find a class of your choice. I settled into a chair in her cozy ground-floor flat that looked half like a set of a cooking show on television and half like a living room and glanced through the day’s lessons: veg manchurian, veg fried rice, chop suey, chilli paneer, spring roll, cauliflower in schezuan sauce and chowmein. Yep, no dumplings. I sacrificed my chocolate dreams for dumplings and wound up with chilli paneer. Things were not looking good. Seeing as it might be slightly rude to dash out of the class after only a few minutes, I swallowed my disappointment and settled in to watch Monga prepare her dishes. Like the most astute, kindly mother, Monga dashed through sauces and gravies and manchurian balls with frightening speed. Her husband and assistant, Arun, clucked around the edges, offering the same tips Monga had just provided, albeit in a louder voice. They were adorable: a veritable comedy routine, all the while juggling six entrées. When I had finally convinced myself I would never be able to prepare any of these dishes once back home, Monga had me up and trying my hands at spring rolls. I went from a Doubting Thomas to a professional chef in just a few corrections of a wrist twist. The class took just under 3 hours and it’ll likely take me about twice that time when I prepare the dishes on my own. But I cannot wait for the dumbfounded applause of all my friends as I serve up the perfect Chinese meal. And the boyfriend will be so full of spring rolls, he won’t have time to notice the absence of dumplings. Classes range from Rs800 to Rs1,200 depending on the cuisine. Visit www.manjumonga.com for the class schedule. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:25 pm Jets bustle Bangalore skyline, Air Show beginsBangalore: India on Wednesday firmly ruled out cut in defence spending despite economic downturn, as top aviation companies vying to secure the prized deal to supply 126 fighter aircraft to Indian Air Force, showcased their products at the Aero India 2009 which got off to a flying start in the Karnataka capital. Keeping in mind the country’s security interests, the government will not slash defence expenditure despite economic recession, defence minister A.K. Antony said inaugurating the five-day biennial event in which 26 countries are participating. “Our defence expenditure at present is about 2.5% of the GDP. Despite economic recession there is no question of scaling down our defence expenditure or compromising with our acquisition programmes,” Antony said. Asserting India was keen on strengthening its military prowess and ensure it had the best, he said the show would showcase country’s emergence as an attractive market and a key outsourcing hub for global aerospace firms. Underlining the government’s focus on public-private partnership in the defence sector, he said,“Our defence industry is now open upto 100% Indian private sector participation, while FDI (foreign direct investment) is permissible upto 26%”. The air show, the biggest in Asia, is taking place as India is technically evaluating bids from different companies to buy 126 modern fighter jets for IAF. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:22 pm Be sure of CAs you appoint: ICAI tells companies - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:14 pm Tata Chemicals promoters pledge 20% stake - Business Standard
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:14 pm FDA nod for generic drug no great cheer for Ranbaxy - Moneycontrol.com
Source: Google News India - Business | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:13 pm Nasscom summit | Crisis as an opportunity So inspite of the gloomy sounding topics, Nasscom and the speakers are trying their best to give a positive spin to the entire scenario. Som Mittal, president of Nasscom, Ganesh Natrajan, chairman of Nasscom and other speakers have been emphasising how this current crisis could be used to do some necessary housekeeping. With double digit-- growth and salary increases -- for the last 8 years, the Indian IT industry had felt very little need to address and confront some of these challenges leading them to become a little bit soft and complacent. Indian IT will now have to use this crisis to evolve to the next level. ********** Will Indian companies take a PaaS on SaaS or ? About a decade back one of the hot IT buzz words was SaaS (Software as a Service) just like virtualisation, Green IT or cloud computing is today. But while the promise held out by the SaaS model was vast (like little upfront investment required, not having to upgrade software continously, not having to employ an army of IT people and basically go by a pay per use model) it never actually took off for a variety of reasons including security related ones. But finally as bandwidth becomes cheaper, companies try to rationalise IT cost and cloud computing becomes a reality, SaaS might just get another chance. Also Read: Venkatesha Babu’s Blogs In the Indian context with reliable bandwidth, even power, being a major issue and customers’ experience in the past with vendors none too happy, one would assume that they would be shy of having a go at SaaS model again. Not so, says Peter Coffee, director of platform research for salesforce.com (a company which incidentally never wavered on its model in the whole 10 years of its existence and this even before cloud became the ’in’ thing) says emerging markets like India in fact have been more receptive. This he says is across segments like Banking, Pharma and Auto. Even Microsoft has been moving its Windows offerings on the cloud throuh Azure Even Indian IT companies looking to control costs might more aggressively adopt the PaaS model. On your next netbook or any IT device you need not pay to preload software but you may get to pay on a use basis. ************ Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Jaipur as new IT destinations ? For long Indian IT has meant the southern cities plus NCR and Mumbai-Pune belt. But increasingly as these cities face challenges (different ones in each case but a common thread being creaking infra and quality of life issues), other Indian cities have emerged as the new hotspots for growth. KPMG in a report released on Wednesday said Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Nagpur would emerge as new growth locations for shared services and outsourcing. For long cities like Bangalore and Chennai had the advantage of the network effect where a positive cycle of growth was reinforced by the existing ecosystem of people, capital and expertise. But the current environment where companies are looking for cost advantages might just provide the impetus for them to get into newer geographical locations if the state governments provide the right incentives. While ’emerging’ Tier II locations have been discussed several times in the past, given the current triggers, this time around it might actually turn out to be true. What do you think ? Does Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Jaipur has what it takes ? *************** IT’s India Leadership Forum: Updates from Mumbai The annual Indian IT industry’s ‘India Leadership Forum’ conclave which the lobby group Nasscom puts together around this time of the year is sombre this time in keeping with the prevailing mood as it taking place in the background of an economic slowdown. One of the significant changes which one wtinesses is the amount of security mounted at a star hotel where it is being held in Mumbai. Nobody wants to take any chances specially after 26/11. While all the blue/grey/black suits and the industry’s heavy hitters descended on the city and were schoomzing and networking as usual, the industry’s woes seems to have left a mark even on things like the sponsors for the event. Last year for instance there were 7 platinum sponsors and this year just 4, similarly as against 14 gold sponsors this year’s number seems to have come down to 11. (Depending on what they pony up, sponsors are tagged in various categories). Some understandable drop outs from last year’s sponsors list have been Satyam and DLF (given the woes in the realty sector). However some like Big Blue, IBM surprisingly have been tight with their purse strings. The turnout of number of delegates seemed to be fairly good the topics for discussion include things like ”Market Spiral : Bottoming Out ?”, ”Future of BPO : Bubble or Boom”, ”On C Level : Making the most of a crisis” probably reflecting what the industry is thinking of. With Indian IT industry’s growth rate now being projected at 16% instead of the 24% which Nasscom said would happen at the beginning of the fiscal, the cautious mood is understandable. But compared to several other sectors like realty or auto the industry should take heart from the fact that it is still growing at this clip. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:01 pm Nasscom summit | Crisis as an opportunitySo inspite of the gloomy sounding topics, Nasscom and the speakers are trying their best to give a positive spin to the entire scenario. Som Mittal, president of Nasscom, Ganesh Natrajan, chairman of Nasscom and other speakers have been emphasising how this current crisis could be used to do some necessary housekeeping. With double digit-- growth and salary increases -- for the last 8 years, the Indian IT industry had felt very little need to address and confront some of these challenges leading them to become a little bit soft and complacent. Indian IT will now have to use this crisis to evolve to the next level. ********** Will Indian companies take a PaaS on SaaS or ? About a decade back one of the hot IT buzz words was SaaS (Software as a Service) just like virtualisation, Green IT or cloud computing is today. But while the promise held out by the SaaS model was vast (like little upfront investment required, not having to upgrade software continously, not having to employ an army of IT people and basically go by a pay per use model) it never actually took off for a variety of reasons including security related ones. But finally as bandwidth becomes cheaper, companies try to rationalise IT cost and cloud computing becomes a reality, SaaS might just get another chance. Also Read: Venkatesha Babu’s Blogs In the Indian context with reliable bandwidth, even power, being a major issue and customers’ experience in the past with vendors none too happy, one would assume that they would be shy of having a go at SaaS model again. Not so, says Peter Coffee, director of platform research for salesforce.com (a company which incidentally never wavered on its model in the whole 10 years of its existence and this even before cloud became the ’in’ thing) says emerging markets like India in fact have been more receptive. This he says is across segments like Banking, Pharma and Auto. Even Microsoft has been moving its Windows offerings on the cloud throuh Azure Even Indian IT companies looking to control costs might more aggressively adopt the PaaS model. On your next netbook or any IT device you need not pay to preload software but you may get to pay on a use basis. ************ Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Jaipur as new IT destinations ? For long Indian IT has meant the southern cities plus NCR and Mumbai-Pune belt. But increasingly as these cities face challenges (different ones in each case but a common thread being creaking infra and quality of life issues), other Indian cities have emerged as the new hotspots for growth. KPMG in a report released on Wednesday said Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Nagpur would emerge as new growth locations for shared services and outsourcing. For long cities like Bangalore and Chennai had the advantage of the network effect where a positive cycle of growth was reinforced by the existing ecosystem of people, capital and expertise. But the current environment where companies are looking for cost advantages might just provide the impetus for them to get into newer geographical locations if the state governments provide the right incentives. While ’emerging’ Tier II locations have been discussed several times in the past, given the current triggers, this time around it might actually turn out to be true. What do you think ? Does Ahmedabad, Nagpur and Jaipur has what it takes ? *************** IT’s India Leadership Forum: Updates from Mumbai The annual Indian IT industry’s ‘India Leadership Forum’ conclave which the lobby group Nasscom puts together around this time of the year is sombre this time in keeping with the prevailing mood as it taking place in the background of an economic slowdown. One of the significant changes which one wtinesses is the amount of security mounted at a star hotel where it is being held in Mumbai. Nobody wants to take any chances specially after 26/11. While all the blue/grey/black suits and the industry’s heavy hitters descended on the city and were schoomzing and networking as usual, the industry’s woes seems to have left a mark even on things like the sponsors for the event. Last year for instance there were 7 platinum sponsors and this year just 4, similarly as against 14 gold sponsors this year’s number seems to have come down to 11. (Depending on what they pony up, sponsors are tagged in various categories). Some understandable drop outs from last year’s sponsors list have been Satyam and DLF (given the woes in the realty sector). However some like Big Blue, IBM surprisingly have been tight with their purse strings. The turnout of number of delegates seemed to be fairly good the topics for discussion include things like ”Market Spiral : Bottoming Out ?”, ”Future of BPO : Bubble or Boom”, ”On C Level : Making the most of a crisis” probably reflecting what the industry is thinking of. With Indian IT industry’s growth rate now being projected at 16% instead of the 24% which Nasscom said would happen at the beginning of the fiscal, the cautious mood is understandable. But compared to several other sectors like realty or auto the industry should take heart from the fact that it is still growing at this clip. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:01 pm Chinese monorail to make Haj comfortableRiyadh: A Chinese company has won a contract to build a $1.8 billion monorail to carry pilgrims around the Islamic holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia announced during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao. China Railway Co. won the deal to construct the rail link between Mecca and the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, which are visited by massive tides of pilgrims during the annual Haj, the state news agency SPA said. More than two million Muslims descend on Mecca each year for the pilgrimage. The project was announced at a state dinner on Tuesday hosted by Saudi King Abdullah for Hu, who is on a three-day visit to to shore up economic relations with the Opec powerhouse and discuss energy supplies. The project is set to be completed over two years, but will be ready to operate at 35% capacity for this year’s Haj, which falls at the end of November, SPA said. According to media reports, the project comprises four elevated tracks intended to carry up to 20,000 passengers an hour. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:58 am Russia, India sign $700 mln in nuclear fuel dealsMOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia signed more than $700 million in deals on Wednesday to supply India's nuclear reactors with fuel pellets, Russia's state-owned nuclear company said in a statement.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:50 am Subhiksha denies any fund diversion, discrepancyNew Delhi: Cash-strapped retail chain Subhiksha Trading Services on Wednesday said there were neither discrepancies in its accounts nor diversion of funds, while acknowledging that salary cheques of some of its employees have not been honoured due to non-availability of liquidity. “We are not aware of any such allegations (account discrepancy and fund diversion) at all and this is the first time we are hearing about this. Obviously these allegations are false and motivated and deserve to be treated with contempt,” Subhiksha Trading Services Managing Director R Subramanian said. Subramanian’s comments come in the wake of reports that employees of the retail chain were planning to file case for “dishonouring pay cheques” while alleging the company of “diverting funds and fudging the accounts.” He, however, admitted that the salary cheques of some employees have not been honoured and blamed the situation for non-availability of funds. “We have admitted that salaries are in arrears since October 2008. Some pay cheques for October and November 2008 dated mid-January 2009 or so were issued based on assurance that we would be receiving some money as an interim measure. Such money did not materialise and the cheques could not be honoured,” Subramanian said. Subramanian said Subhiksha is trying to raise money for the payment of employees’ salaries. “The company has every intention of honouring the cheques and is attempting to raise money for this. The fact is that salaries are in arrears and this has been already stated, and that cheques are not honoured is only a technicality and not a real issue,” Subramanian added. He said the company, which is seeking Rs300 crore as debt or equity to bounce back into business, is in talks with banks and investors for emergency funds once the ongoing corporate debt restructuring programme at Subhiksha gets over. On being asked about the likely date for resumption of operations, Subramanian said it may happen in May. He conceded that the company has lost some employees due to the current situation. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:47 am Have a peripheral vision of what you do: Padmasree WarriorThis is part 2 of the interview with Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Cisco. Kamla: Cisco has traditionally one of the strategies by which it has grown. So have you acquired any companies in the last few months at the virtualization space? Padmasree: I would say one of Cisco’s key strengths is to make the acquisitions and then integrate the acquisitions very effectively. I think I am told throughout our history we have acquired over 125 companies. It is a company built together with a 125 or so acquisitions. One of the key acquisitions we have made in the virtualization space is a company called Nova which was started by ex-Cisco executives which is now very central to how we are deploying virtualization in the data center space and we are continuously on the look out for acquisitions that will fill in the gaps that we have and also as an area for us to grow into new exigencies. Kamla: So there is lot of competition in the virtualization space? Padmasree: Yes and no. I think virtualization is still a new area- an emerging area. There are players looking at server virtualization and others who have been in that  Kamla: Cloud computing is the new buzzword. Is it just the good old ASP model that is being recast as cloud computing? Padmasree: There is a lot of hype as you point out of cloud computing and some of it is justified and some of it is just hype where there is a lot of excitement about the new technology. I think that is probably natural. I think most new technologies go through the hype phase as Cartner calls it refers to it as the hype phase. We are taking a very pragmatic approach with cloud computing. We do see that it offers advantages because it allows you to have an on demand, combines an on demand way to have access to applications with a non premix way. However in the current way, cloud computing is being deployed, it presents significant challenges especially to large enterprises but also to small and medium businesses. The challenges are with respect to security. When you have your data sitting in someone’s data center and really have no visibility where that data center resides you know geographically is distributed as well. Then you have issues with making sure that the data is secure in terms of how you access it and how you use it. So security is a big challenge and today most of the architectures are proprietarily close architectures so our customers are very concerned about vendor lock in and so it also prevents them the flexibility in moving an application from one environment to another environment and service level agreements is a big challenge. So the approach we are taking is how we do really for cloud computing to really become the major disruption that people talk about. There is still lot of work that needs to get done in addressing security, making it truly an open cloud. So our vision is something that we call inter cloud somewhat like the Internet, if you think about how the Internet evolved. Want to see the same thing happen to the cloud environment and we think that is how it will evolve, this will go from the stand alone clouds to what I call enterprise class clouds to eventually inter-cloud. Kamla: What role do you see Cisco play in the consumer entertainment space? Padmasree: In the consumer connectivity space, let us say it that way I do not want to say that it is entertainment. I think one of the things that we actually see happening is there is a lot of extension between enterprise and consumer. Those boundaries are blurring if you think about the devices that we used to use in the past we had distinct boundaries between what was an enterprise application, what is an enterprise class device and what is a consumer device. Today people want to have the flexibility to bring their devices especially with the mobile in today’s enterprise that is their device whether they are at work or whether they are at home. Our focus in the consumer space is really to connect the home and we call it the connected life effort and at CES we make several announcements with new products and new platforms to manage content and to have access to content. We announced a platform called EOS, the Entertainment Operating System which sort of allows large media players to distribute their media in a secure way and we are also looking at various other ways. For example extending Telepresence into their home. You can think of a scenario not too far away where you have a high definition TV in your home already and you can attach a camera to it and extend Telepresence into that. So those are the kinds of things we are focused on. Kamla: You are one of the few CTO’s who is deeply involved in social media. You blog, you twitter, where do you find the time to do these things? Padmasree: For me it is part of my job. The reason I twitter is because it allows me to have conversations and listen to voices that I do not normally listen to. My day is packed, I have a very tight work schedule and I am scheduled from 13 hours, 14 hours a day and I would like to have a peripheral vision of who I am talking to, what conversations are occurring that are not normal for me to have in my day to day schedule. I find twitter to be very useful from that respect. I mean I post a comment and people send me replies that I do not normally get a chance to meet to and I think as a CTO or any executive that is an important element to have the peripheral vision and not have just a turn out focus of what I do in my daily job at Cisco. I used to blog much more actively than I have done I would say in the past 12 months and hopefully sometime in the future I will pick it up again. Blogging, I think is time consuming because I actually used to still write on all of my stuff myself. It is a way of expressing your ideas and being open to comments both good and bad. You know sometimes you get bad comments and criticism about you. You know you are wrong and it is actually having the courage and the willingness to listen to commentary and blogging allows you to do that. In a way these are tools for me to extend the influence that I can have in my role at the same time provide me with avenues to listen to feedback that I do not normally have. Kamla: How do you handle criticisms that are leveled against you? Do you engage with the person or persons that criticized you? Padmasree: It depends- I think most of the time if it is a critic of a position or of a viewpoint. Then it is good to know where the other persons view is coming from. Typically it is based on their perspective or their experience or their business model and sometimes usually when there is a conflict with respect to ideas and how they are implemented it is usually the business models are very different from the company I am working for or the company they are working for or their innovation has a different set of applications, etc. In those areas I find it very interesting actually to engage in trying to get to the deeper level of understanding. Sometimes criticisms are just personal attacks and those I usually ignore because there is nothing- I mean people are entitled to their opinion when I am not sure what value there would be in pursuing those right. But it is unfortunate and that is the bad side of what the Internet gives us today. People can just make comments and not take ownership for what they say. Kamla: Who inspired you and mentored you to where you are today? Padmasree: Wow I think that is a great question. I cannot say there has been a single person that I can say this person mentored me or made me who I am today. I do owe a lot to my parents; I think both my father and my mom when I was young growing up gave me the freedom to pursue my interest and in fact encouraged me to perhaps do things that are more out of the norm for a young girl growing up in a small town in India. I would say that actually probably gave me the foundation to reach for some of the things that I am doing today. I also feel my husband who was my classmate at IIT, who was my partner, is someone that I feel is an anchor in my life and someone I can go back to with a lot of things. I think it is important to have a circle but it is your family or friends that allow you to reach and take risks in your career and I have been fortunate to have that. From a professional mentor perspective I would say it is different people each one giving me advice in a different area. There is not a single person that I can point out but there had been several people that I have worked with and worked for that have been great sounding both for me that I still go back to occasionally. Kamla: What was it like growing up in Vijayawada before you went for your IIT studies? Padmasree: Yes actually I went to IIT Delhi which is even farther away from Vijayawada. Growing up in Vijayawada, I have very fond memories, I have great friendships that I still maintain to this day and I am still in touch with my friends from kindergarten that I have grown up with. Our lives are very different now but we still have a very common understanding of what it is like to be kids and you know growing up together as kids that I think has held us together. I have memories of a small town, hustling and bustling with activities and I learnt a lot there. I finished my high school, I went to IIT Delhi. So I went from a small town to a huge city, speaking a different language and there were very few women in a very competitive technical university, which is a major transition. Probably one of the biggest transitions of my life I would say more than being CTO of Cisco or coming to the US because I think I was very young. I was only 16 or 17 then and making that big transition it was a huge deal and going into a very male dominated field was something that can sometimes be intimidating. But I think again I had great friends there and had a lot of support system. Kamla: What are the major things you are going to be doing for this year 2009? Padmasree: As the CTO you mean or… Kamla: CTO or as a mom or as a wife or as a person. Padmasree: Oh it is personally. Well, you know 2009 I am actually really looking forward to it. I think it will be a great year like I said from a growth opportunity perspective. I am-we as a company and I am as a CTO focused a lot in terms of virtualization bringing back to the market we see a lot happening this year in the market for that we will have a lot of new products coming into it. We will be implementing our cloud strategy so that something that will be unrolling this year. So there is a lot of exciting things happening there. Video as I said going to take off quite a bit in Telepresence we already see this as an opportunity for companies. Actually it is interesting to talk about the economic downturn but as companies are reducing their travel budgets they want to have technology that helps them still meet with the customers, meet with suppliers, meet with their employee base and so we are seeing a lot of demand for product such as Telepresence. Personally I hope to settle down further in my new home. I am still commuting back and forth, my family lives in Chicago. Hopefully I will get more proficient in going back and forth between the two cities. I look forward to meeting our customers all over the world. I am actually just headed out to Europe in a couple of weeks so getting to know their customer base much more. Kamla: Padma it was a pleasure talking to you. Thank you so much for this conversation. Padmasree: Thank you. You were listening to Padmasree Warrior, CTO of Cisco. This is Kamla Bhatt; this interview was brought to you in association with Live Mint Radio. And as always thank you for tuning in. Source: LatestNews-Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:45 am Close: Markets end flat, regains most of day’s lossesNew Delhi: Markets made recovery from the day’s low near closing on Wednesday but were still trading weak and ended flat with a negative bias on some renewed buying activity as government announced reviewed FDI guidelines. According to new norms approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs foreign investment through an Indian company would not be calculated as indirect foreign investment in case of Indian companies owned completely by resident Indians. This will allow overseas investors to raise their stakes in Indian firms. The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex began the day in red, continuing to trade lower by 1% through most of the day as sell-offs triggered by unsatisfactory US $800 billion stimulus plan continued. Investor expectations worldwide were hurt with the unclear strategy of the economic rescue plan passed by Senate on Tuesday night. The 30-share BSE index ended 28.93 points lower at 9,618.54 and the 50-share NSE Nifty lost merely 8.80 points to close at 2,925.70. The selling pressure continued among the metal, oil and gas, IT, capital goods and PSU stocks. However Auto, consumer durables, power, FMCG, technology and realty stocks gained after low trading. There are also expectations from the government to announce measures to boost economic growth in the upcoming interim budget on 16 February. Top gainers on the BSE index were Maruti Suzuki by 4% at Rs632.55, ACC Ltd by 2.64% to Rs558.15, Jaiprakash Associates by 2.47% to Rs76.70, Tata Power by 1.81% to Rs807.95 and Bharti Airtel by 1.72% to Rs674.20. Several firms of Tata Group were battered on the index as declaration of pledged shares company’s several firms Tata Communications, Tata Steel, Indian Hotels, Tata Sons and Tata Coffee was made. Tata Steel slipped by 3.38% to Rs 190.30, Tata Motors by 2.09% to Rs135.95 and TCS by 1.90% to Rs221.95. Other losers from the BSE pack were Ranbaxy laboratories by 5% to Rs221.20, Grasim Industries Ltd by 4.07% to Rs1,359.75, Reliance Infra by 3.73% to Rs541.50, Sun Pharmaceuticals by 1.94% to Rs1,096.35 and Wipro by 1.60% to Rs221.95. Meanwhile, European shares opened slightly lower on vague US stimulus plan, on a similar disappointment note Asian markets dropped as Hing Kong’s Hang Seng closed 2.5% down. Japan’s Nikkei index was closed today on account of a holiday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:24 am BSE Sensex snaps 3-day rally, budget hopes stayMUMBAI (Reuters) – The BSE Sensex snapped a three-day rally and dropped 0.3 percent on Wednesday, but the fall was far less than in world markets as investors clung to hopes for a domestic economic stimulus package early next week.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:16 am Europe shares open lower as US plan seems vagueLondon: European shares opened 1% lower early on Wednesday, joining a global sell-off as investors feared a $2 trillion US bank rescue plan would not be enough to prop up the troubled financial system. The FTSEurofirst 300 was down 1% at 797.8 points by 3:50pm. The index of top European shares lost 2.9% on Tuesday. Banks led the decliners in Europe. Credit Suisse dropped 1.8% after Switzerland’s second-largest bank posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $5.2 billion, its biggest annual loss ever, due to poor trading performance and restructuring charges. US stock futures pointed to a slightly higher start after falling sharply the day before. Asian stocks fell too, with sentiment hurt further after Chinese exports and imports fell more than expected in January. Investors worldwide were sharply disappointed by the lack of detail on how the US government will cleanse toxic assets burdening the financial system. “They’ve given it a fancy name (but) there’s a huge amount of uncertainty,” Peter Dixon, an economist at Commerzbank in London, said of the US plan. Among banks, Barclays shed 3% and Banco Santander lost more than 1%. Meanwhile, shareholders of Fortis will give their verdict on Wednesday on the state-led deals that carved up their stricken financial group and left them with huge losses and a share of toxic assets. Swedish move Sweden’s central bank slashed its key interest rate by a full point to a record low 1.0% on Wednesday as it sought to bolster a rapidly deteriorating economy. European Central Bank Executive Board Member Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said, meanwhile, that 2% is not the lowest level for European Central Bank interest rates. The ECB held rates at 2.0% at its February meeting but policymakers have signalled a cut is likely in March. PSA Peugeot Citroen dropped 3.3% after saying it does not expect to return to profit until 2010 after it made an unexpected loss for 2008 following hefty writedowns, as the global economic crisis puts the brakes on car sales. Renault shed 4.4%. Leading the gainers, Vestas added 5.8% after the world’s biggest wind turbines maker posted a better-than-expected 51% rise in 2008 operating profit and repeated its 2009 sales and profit forecasts. Shares in Rio Tinto gained 3% on hopes the global miner would announce a deal with top shareholder Chinalco to help slash its $39 billion debt burden when it announces results on Thursday. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:14 am Govt to infuse 38 bln rupees into 3 banksNEW DELHI (Reuters) - The government will infuse 38 billion rupees into three state-run banks by the end of March 2010, a minister said Wednesday, helping their shares extend gains in a market that ended almost unchanged.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:02 am Indian fertiliser units can shift to gas, fresh equity for banksIndia's cabinet Wednesday allowed the heavily regulated fertiliser industry to switch from naphtha and fuel oil to natural gas, a more efficient and cleaner feed stock, and decided to infuse Rs.38 billion (Rs.3,800 crore) into three state-run banks.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:01 am Virgin Atlantic's 'steamy' ad slammed as 'sexist'The airline's advertisement shows men lusting over glamorous, red-suited airhostesses.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 11:00 am Kernex Microsystems eyes Rs 200cr rev in FY10Colonel LV Raju, MD, Kernex Microsystems, said the company is likely to receive orders from the three zones. He expect orders worth Rs 150200 crore in the upcoming railway budget and sees a turnover of about Rs 200 crore in FY10.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:58 am Nasscom sets up committee to avoid any Satyam-like caseTo prevent Satyam-like incidents in future, industry body Nasscom said it has formed a corporate governance and ethics committee.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:53 am Gold sets new peak at Rs 14,550 on global cuesGold sky-rocketed to a record-high level of more than Rs 14,500 per ten gm in the national capital on Wednesday.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:47 am China sentences 76 people for their role in anti-govt protestsChina has sentenced 76 people so far for their role in the anti-government protests that rocked Tibet in March last year.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:44 am Order book around Rs 800cr: Titagarh WagonsUmesh Choudhary, MD, Titagarh Wagons said railway traffic has been doing reasonably well. He feels this would be the right time to add capital assets to the company as steel prices are lower. He informed CNBCTV18 that the company has received orders for 2,000 wagons. The companys order book is close to Rs 800 crore.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:43 am United Airlines moving 165 jobs from IndiaThe third-largest North American carrier United Airlines (UAL) has decide to close down its call centre in India and move back about 165 jobs to the US.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:29 am Govt to infuse Rs3,800 crore in 3 PSU banksNew Delhi: The government will infuse Rs3,800 crore into three state-run banks by the end of March 2010, a minister said Wednesday, helping their shares extend gains in a market that ended almost unchanged. Indian banks have been unable to raise fresh equity after the global financial crisis roiled Indian markets, but they have to adhere to the central bank’s capital adequacy rules and meet rising demand for loans needed to prime the slowing economy. On Wednesday, home minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said the Union cabinet approved a proposal to put funds into UCO Bank, Central Bank of India and Vijaya Bank by subscribing to their shares. “Today accessing the capital market is not a viable option. Capital is required. Therefore, we decided to infuse capital,” Chidambaram told a news conference. UCO Bank will get Rs1,200 crore -- Rs450 crore in FY09 and the remaining Rs750 crore next fiscal, he said. Central Bank of India will get Rs700 crore each this fiscal and the next, while Vijaya Bank will get Rs500 crore in FY09 and another Rs700 crore in FY10. The news helped shares of the three banks up by 3-5%. High Credit Demand Indian banks are pressed for fresh capital to comply with the RBI’s norms on meeting capital to risk-weighted assets ratio (CRAR), or capital adequacy ratio, by end March. “The policy is that we will recapitalise all banks to ensure all of them reach to a 12% CRAR,” Chidambaram said. The funds would also enable banks scale up lending to sectors such as manufacturing and infrastructure which are witnessing a sharp slowdown. Bank loans grew 22.1% in the year to 16 January, much lower than the 30% growth seen two years ago when the economy was growing at a scorching pace of more than 9%. India’s GDP is seen growing 7.1% in the year to March. As signs of a slowdown showed in falling factory output, exports and car sales, the government urged banks to pass on the benefits of its aggressive monetary easing to borrowers by cutting lending rates and boosting loan growth. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 10:04 am Foreign firms can hike stake with change on FDI normsNew Delhi: Giving scope to foreign firms to increase equity in their Indian joint ventures, the government on Wednesday changed FDI policy and excluded indirect investment through domestic companies from overall sectoral ceilings. The decision to change the FDI policy guidelines was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). “The foreign investment through (an) investing Indian company would not be considered for (calculating) the indirect foreign investment in (the) case of Indian companies ‘owned and controlled´ by resident Indian citizens and Indian companies owned and controlled ultimately by resident Indian citizens,” a new guideline says. Asked what the objective of the changes in the FDI policy was, Home Minister P Chidambaram said, “The objective is to make (FDI policy) simple and transparent, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).” In another amendment, the CCEA decided that government approval would be required for transferring the ownership of an Indian company that has a joint venture with a foreign firm in any sector covered by FDI caps. The CCEA approval of changes in FDI norms follows the recommendations of a group of ministers headed by External Affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:59 am Infra growth to suffer more unless funding costs easeMUMBAI (Reuters) - India's infrastructure growth will slow further if funding costs are not brought down, as companies pinched by plunging bottom lines turn their focus away from expansion.Source: Reuters: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:41 am No question of scaling down defence expenditure: AntonyIndia will continue with its arms acquisition programmes and defence preparedness despite the economic recession, Defence Minister A.K. Antony said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:30 am United Airlines moving 165 jobs from IndiaHouston: The third-largest North American carrier United Airlines (UAL) has decide to close down its call centre in India and move back about 165 jobs to the US. The carrier told workers on Tuesday that it would stop publishing its customer relations phone number, which will be turned off altogether. Beginning in April, the workers will add customer-relations duties, which involve issues or complaints after travel. United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the airline is able to respond better to customers who write, since they often include more detail, making it possible to provide a more specific response. “We clearly have the deep industry expertise to help our guests navigate through their options.” United also said starting this month, it will begin urging customers to use e-mail or letters instead of calling its customer-relations phone number for complaints or compliments. The line will be shut off at the end of April. Phone reservations agents in Chicago and Honolulu will be cross-trained to respond to written customer feedback too. That will keep 165 jobs in those two centres, she said. No changes are planned at United’s third reservation centre in Detroit, which will continue to take phone calls from United’s largest customers. Urbanski said the rise of Internet booking means it now makes sense to have reservation agents also handle after-flight calls from customers. She said the new arrangement would be “cost-neutral” versus having the calls answered in India. However, the move reverses United’s decision to ship the positions to India, a step Urbanski said was taken “about two or three years ago”. United said in January it was cutting 1,000 more jobs, pushing the total to 9,000 by year’s end, to help stem net losses at parent UAL that totaled $5.35 billion in 2008. “We have an opportunity to preserve and create jobs for our employees while sharpening our focus on how we respond to our guests when they contact us,” Barbara Higgins, vice president for worldwide contact centres, said in the notice to workers. The memo did not specify how United’s payroll would be affected. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:20 am IAF choppers can't be blamed for Mumbai near mishap: air chiefMumbai's Air Traffic Control (ATC) had given clearance to the three Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers carrying President Pratibha Patil's entourage that narrowly missed colliding with a passenger aircraft, Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major said Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:04 am Commercial taxes can be paid online in GoaGoa will launch 'Cyber Treasury', a state-wide area network that enables entrepreneurs to pay commercial taxes, including value-added tax (VAT), online, state Finance Secretary Udipta Ray said here Wednesday.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:03 am Two promoters pledge 10.53% stake of Tata CommMumbai: Telecom major Tata Communications on Tuesday said that two of its promoters have pledged a 10.53% stake in the company with lenders. The estimated worth of the three crore Tata Comm shares pledged by the two promoters comes to about Rs1,329.65 crore. Tata Communications is the latest Tata Group company to disclose the promoter pledging of shares after Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Teleservices (Mah), Tata Coffee, Tata Power and Indian Hotels Company. Thus, the promoters of the seven Tata Group companies have pledged shares close to 118 crore in all, with an estimated value of Rs8,830 crore. Tata Sons, one of the promoters of the company, has pledged two crore shares, representing a 7.02 % stake, in the company, Tata Communications said in a disclosure to the Bombay Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, a Tata Sons spokesperson said that the pledging of shares in various Tata Group firms “is not a new practice; it has been existing since the age of joint stock companies. It has been done primarily for long-term funding requirements of Tata Sons.” Estimated on the basis of yesterday’s closing price of Tata Communications, the value of the pledged shares by Tata Sons stands at Rs901.50 crore. Another promoter, Pantone Finvest Ltd, has pledged one crore shares, constituting a 3.51% stake in the company, on 2 February, the filing added. The value of the shares pledged by Pantone stands at Rs428.15 crore as per the closing price of the stock on February. Shares of Tata Communications were trading at Rs 440, down 2.32 % on the BSE. Source: Home - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:02 am India relaxes ownership norms on foreign direct investmentIndia's cabinet Wednesday relaxed norms governing what constitutes foreign equity in companies that operate in sectors that have a cap on overseas investment in a bid to rationalise procedures.Source: IndiaeNews.com: Business News | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:01 am Satyam board to initiate bidding process for partnerThe debate over whether Satyam will induct a strategic partner through a bidding process seems to be over. The board is clear it will be through a bidding process. Moreover, the board which meets in Mumbai on Thursday is also expected to discuss appointing an independent committee to oversee the bidding process.Source: Moneycontrol Top Headlines | 11 Feb 2009 | 9:00 am Google testing home electricity use softwareBy AFP San Francisco: Google said Tuesday it is refining PowerMeter software that tells residents which devices in their homes are electricity hogs and which are being frugal with energy. The announcement comes as the California Internet titan urges increased investment in a nationwide “smart grid” electricity network to better track and manage power consumption. PowerMeter software being tested by Google workers receives information from “smart” electric meters and devices such as appliances and then sends to users’ computers detailed reports about how the power is being divvied up. One Google engineer said he saved $3,000 last year after feedback provided by PowerMeter prompted energy-trimming changes to incandescent light bulbs, a swimming pool filter and two old refrigerators. A Google program manager said PowerMeter tipped her off to a stuck dial on a toaster oven that could have started a fire in the kitchen of her apartment. “Imagine how hard it would be to stick to a budget in a store with no prices,” Google engineering team member Ed Lu wrote in a posting at the company’s website. Source: Tech News - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 8:13 am Satyam getting new contracts: AS MurtySatyam Computers said that it is continuously getting new software services orders and existing clients have showed faith in the company.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 7:09 am ArcelorMittal sees weak Q1, cuts dividendBrussels: ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, reported a 42% drop in fourth-quarter core profit on Wednesday after a sharp slump in demand, forecast a very weak first quarter and cut its dividend. The company said EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) dropped to $2.81 billion in the October-December period, compared with the average $2.24 billion in a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. That was within the company’s own guidance of $2.5 billion to $3.0 billion, but well below the $4.85 billion of a year ago when the commodities boom was in full swing. ArcelorMittal forecast first-quarter EBITDA would be about $1.0 billion due to the full impact of price and output cuts. The company said it would cut its annual dividend to $0.75 per share. There had been growing speculation among analysts that it would fail to stick to its previous commitment of $1.50. Demand has slumped in key auto and construction markets. Prices of hot-rolled coil, a form of flat steel mainly used in automotive industry, have slumped from a mid-2008 record of $1,125 a tonne to about $520 in the United States. Prices of rebar, used for building, have slumped to about $676 a tonne from more than $1,000. ArcelorMittal’s response was to cut output by 35% and shed 9,000 white-collar jobs, 3% of its workforce. Analysts were looking for signs the company has its balance sheet under control. It said it was on track to reduce net debt by $10 billion by the end of this year, having sold its stake in German plate mill Dillinger Huette for about $1 billion in December. The company, formed from Mittal Steel’s takeover of then world number two Arcelor, went on a spending spree during the commodities boom, ratcheting up debt. Overall debt fell to $26.5 billion, from $32.5 billion at the end of the third quarter. Debt market concerns have eased. Five-year credit default swaps on ArcelorMittal debt were trading at about 910 basis points a year for five year bonds, Markit data showed, from up to 1,525 basis points at end-2008. ArcelorMittal shares are up some 19% in the year-to-date, although they fell about 8% on Tuesday. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 6:46 am Fortis shareholders likely to reject rescue planBrussels: Shareholders of bailed-out bank Fortis are likely to vote on Wednesday against a government rescue deal to sell most of the business to France’s BNP Paribas. A “No” vote could force BNP Paribas to walk away rather than grant more concessions to shareholders angry that their stakes have shed most of their value since Fortis sought government help last September. Once the largest bank in Belgium and the Netherlands, Fortis was carved up by government officials who failed to consult shareholders about the fire sale of its Belgian banking and insurance operations to BNP Paribas and the Dutch state takeover of its Dutch arm. An appeals court ruled December that shareholders should finally get to vote 11 February on the decision that left them with an almost empty shell a tiny international insurer and a large pile of toxic debt. In an effort to woo shareholders toward a “Yes” vote, the Belgian government sweetened the terms of its bailout last month. It returned most of the Belgian insurance business to the Fortis holding company and took on more of the toxic credit derivatives. But the deal failed to appease some shareholders, above all Chinese insurer Ping An which is Fortis’ largest private shareholder with a rapidly depreciating 5% stake. Ping An said Sunday that Belgian government decisions have “destroyed Fortis’ value” and “breached the corporate governance principles” of the bank. It said it wanted to talk to the government about changing the deal yet again. That may be a bridge too far for BNP Paribas, which said it was not prepared to make more concessions to shareholders. Acquiring Fortis would make it the largest euro zone bank by assets, but the takeover’s twists and turns have hit its share price in recent weeks. Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders also told De Tijd daily on Tuesday that shareholders are in the last-chance saloon and a rejection of the government plan could lead to Fortis’ collapse. Shareholders represented by lawyer Mischael Modrikamen who won the December challenge and the shareholder activist group Deminor say that isn’t true and the government is scare-mongering to get them to vote in favour. They plan to vote against all parts of the rescue deal. But De Tijd said that around 35 families that own chunks of the bank would likely vote against the sale of the bank’s Dutch arm to the Dutch government but approve the deals with the Belgian state and BNP Paribas. The Dutch government has refused to make any changes to its nationalization of Fortis in the Netherlands. For the Belgian government, the botched bailout of Fortis has already cost one prime minister his job and hit the savings of thousands of voters who bought shares in a company they regarded as one of Belgium’s crown jewels. Fortis once had a sparkling reputation as a company that took part in one of the largest European banking takeovers when it bought ABN Amro’s Dutch retail banking arm in 2007. Tarnished by a credit crisis that saw it unable to pay for that deal or cover its heavy investments in high-risk derivatives, it now faces an uncertain future. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 11 Feb 2009 | 5:42 am Sensex tanks 188 points on heavy sellingThe Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark Sensex fell by over 187 points in early trade on Wednesday, snapping its three-session rising streak on heavy selling by funds.Source: Daily News & Analysis: Money News | 11 Feb 2009 | 5:33 am Imported fuel supplies for nuclear stations being tied upNew Delhi, Feb. 10 Imported fuel supplies for the country’s starving nuclear power programme are on the horizon, which could get the indigenous atomic stations up and running at higher capacity in the due course.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Slowdown may take its toll on Gulf remittancesMumbai, Feb 10 This is a warning that the Government and banks can ill-afford to ignore. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director, Mr Dominique Strauss-Kahn, in his first regional briefing for the Asia Press held recently inSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Financial Technologies (Rs 515.25): BuyWe recommend a buy in the stock of Financial Technologies India from a short-term perspective. It is evident from the charts of the stock that it was on an intermediate-term down trend between early November and late January, from Rs 744 to RsSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Govt to borrow Rs 46,000 cr moreNew Delhi, Feb. 10 The Central Government will resort to an additional borrowing of Rs 46,000 crore between February 20 and March 20 to support the economy, as higher spending and lower revenues stretch its finances.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am DoT gets tough with new mobile players on rolloutNew Delhi, Feb. 10 The Department of Telecom is turning the heat on new mobile players for not launching services despite having given out the licences almost a year ago.Source: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Day Trading GuideWe re-affirm our buy recommendation in DLF and L&T. On the other hand; ICICI Bank and SBI are witnessing selling pressure at higher level. Utilise rallies to sellSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Running out of charge in rural India“Bharti’s strategy of extensive roll-out ahead of competition, especially in new villages, has yielded rich dividends,” Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel Ltd, noted last month after hisSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am GM says $1-b sourcing target will be difficultNew Delhi, Feb. 10 General Motors has said that it may find it challenging to meet its target of sourcing $1 billion worth of components annually from Indian vendors by 2010. This comes despite the company expressing confidence in its IndianSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am ‘We are responding to the crisis as it impacts on us’New Delhi, Feb. 10 The Reserve Bank of India Governor, Dr D Subbarao, has made it clear that it is not possible for the central bank to lay a roadmap of precise steps to deal with the global financial crisis that is adversely impacting the IndianSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am Banks’ educational loan portfolio growing despite slowdownKolkata, Feb. 10 The economic recession and downturn in the job markets might not have a significant impact on the educational loan portfolio of banks, according to senior bank officials. Banks are not anticipating any slowdown or build up ofSource: Business Line - Home Page | 11 Feb 2009 | 12:00 am L, ITC, Axis stakes may stay with SUUTIGovt gets legal opinion allowing institution to continue after June.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2009 | 6:47 pm IL to take control of Maytas InfraThe leading non-banking finance company is emerging as a government preference given its prominent role in infrastructure finance in the country. IL&FS is among 19 banks and financial institutions that have collectively lent Maytas Infra Rs 5,000 crore and is partner in several major Maytas projects including the Hyderabad Metro.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2009 | 6:45 pm Airlines more than double low-end faresReverse steep January cuts citing poor revenues, passenger growth.Source: Business Standard | Front Page Headlines | 10 Feb 2009 | 6:42 pm GM to axe 10,000 jobs; slash salariesNew York: US auto giant General Motors on Tuesday said it will slash about 10,000 jobs this year besides resorting to significant pay cuts as the ailing carmaker explores ways to cope with plunging sales. In a statement, GM said it would reduce “salaried employment globally from a current level of 73,000 to approximately 63,000. These reductions are expected to take place in 2009”. The automaker said that it would also resort to temporary pay cuts for majority of American employees, starting 1 May. According to the statement, these difficult actions have been initiated in the wake of a steep fall in worldwide vehicle sales and restructuring measures for long term viability. Nearly 3,400 employees of the company’s total US workforce of 29,500 would be impacted. A major chunk of the layoffs are anticipated to happen by 1 May. In 2008, GM received a lifeline worth billions of dollars from the Federal government to stave off possible bankruptcy. Reduction in the number of salaried employees would vary by global region, depending on the staffing levels in the region and market conditions, it added. GM said that a “temporary pay reduction” would begin from 1 May and would be effective till the end of the year, when the same would be reviewed. Noting that the salary cut would be for majority of the US salaried employees, the carmaker said, “in the US, executive employees will have their base pay reduced by 10%, and many other salaried employees will see reductions of 3 to 7%”. The statement pointed out that other countries “are currently reviewing compensation and benefits for salaried employees”. The automaker added that it had outlined the need for the reductions in the restructuring plan submitted to Congress in December 2008. In a reflection of its deteriorating market situation, GM lost its position as the world’s biggest carmaker to Japan’s Toyota Motor in 2008. Source: World Business - Livemint.com | 10 Feb 2009 | 3:36 pm
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